Part 7 (1/2)

”This old boy tells me that we'd save just twelve miles by striking off front here, instead of goin' into town. Snowy Gulch is six miles, and we have to come back to this very place. What's the use of goin' into town at all?”

”Good heavens, Ez? Have you forgotten we've got to get supplies? And your brother's gun--and his dog?”

”How do you know he's got a dog?”

”He said a pup, didn't he? But it may be an elephant for all I know. Of course, we've got to go on in.”

”Yes, I know--one of us has. But, Ben, it seems to me that one of us ought to strike off now and figure out the way and sort of get located.

One of us could take a little food and a couple of blankets and make it through in less than a day. Half a day, almost. Then we could have the cabin all ready, and everything laid out for to begin work. He could blaze any dim spots in the trail and save time for the other feller, comin' with the horses.”

”Oh, it would be all right,” Ben began rather doubtfully. ”I don't see that much is to be gained by it. But I'll strike off on foot, if you want me to.”

Ezram's mind was flas.h.i.+ng with thoughts like lightning, and his answer was ready. ”Ben, if you don't mind, I'll do that,” he said. ”I can get along without gazin' at the sky-sc.r.a.pers of Snowy Gulch, and to tell the truth, that twelve miles of extra walkin' don't appeal to me one bit.

I'd as soon have you tend to all the things in town.”

”But you'd get a ride, if you waited--”

”I hate a horse, anyway--”

”You've surely changed a lot since the war.”

”I was thrown off not long ago--and have been leery of the dum things ever since. I'd walk, sooner than ride, even if I did have a horse. So you roll me that big Hudson Bay blanket and give me a couple of day's rations. I'll make a pack for my back that I can't feel. Then you strike off into town.”

Without especial enthusiasm Ben agreed. Ezram gave a great sigh of satisfaction. He had put through the deal: Ben's secret thought was that Ezram's curiosity--always a p.r.o.nounced trait with the old--had mastered him, and he could not wait longer to explore the mine. Not one glimpse of the truth as to Ezram's real reason for desiring to push on alone as much as occurred to him.

Ezram was wholly deliberate. He knew what waited him on arrival at his brother's claim. Jeffery Neilson and his gang had a.s.sembled there, had already jumped the claim just as his brother had warned him that they would do; and coolly and quietly he had resolved to face them alone.

They were desperate men, not likely to be driven from the gold by threats or persuasion only. But there was no law in his life, no precept in his code, whereby he could subject his young partner to the risk.

It was true that the desire to arrive on the scene at the earliest possible moment had been a factor in his decision. One of them could hurry on, unimpeded by the pack animals, and the other must linger to secure their supplies; and there could really be no question, in Ezram's mind, which should go and which should stay. He had known perfectly that if Ben had realized the true need for haste, he would never have submitted so tamely to Ezram's will. The old man knew Wolf Darby. The strong dark eyes in the lean, raw-boned face rea.s.sured him as to this knowledge. Ben would go too, if he knew the truth. Likely he would insist on going alone.

Ezram had decided the whole thing in a flash, realizing that a lone pedestrian would be practically as effective in dealing with the usurpers as two hors.e.m.e.n, impeded by the pack animals. If they didn't shoot to kill at first sight of him Ezram would have time in plenty to seek refuge in the forest and do a sharpshooter's business that would fill his old heart with joy. And there really wasn't any question as to which of the two should go. Their partners.h.i.+p was of long duration; their comrades.h.i.+p was deep; Ben was young, and Ezram himself was old!

Ezram made his decision entirely casually, and he would have been surprised out of his wits if any one had expressed wonder of it. He knew no self-pity or sentimentality, only the knowledge that he did not desire that his young buddy should be shot full of holes in the first moment of play. The only fear that had visited him was that Ben might catch on and not let him go. And now he could scarcely restrain his triumphant chuckles in Ben's hearing.

He made his pack--a few simple provisions wrapped in his blanket--and a knife and camp axe swung on his belt. He took his trusted pipe--because he knew well that he could never acquit himself creditably in a fight without a few lungfuls of tobacco smoke first--and he also took his rifle. ”You'll be gettin' my brother's gun when you get to Snowy Gulch,”

he explained, ”and I may see game on the way out. And you keep this copy of the letter.” He handed Ben the copy he had made of Hiram's will. ”I'm the worst hand for losin' things you ever seen.”

”You're sure you've got the directions straight?”

”Sure.--And I guess that's all.”

They said their simple good-bys, shaking hands over a pile of stores.

”I've only got one decent place to keep things safe,” Ezra confided, ”and that ain't so all-fired decent, either. When I get any papers that are extra precious, I always stick 'em down the leg of these high old boots, between the sock and the leather. But it's too much work to take the boot off now, so you keep the letter.”

”I suppose you've got a million-dollar bank note hidden down there now,”

Ben remarked.